


Unleashed

by Dreamshaper



Category: Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020)
Genre: Because I love werewolves, Canon-Typical Violence, Established Relationship, F/F, More Werewolf Helena!, and i love her, and some angst, and some fluff, some ouchies in this, that doesn't stop me from being mean to her though ha
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-11
Updated: 2020-09-25
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:42:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 20,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26391364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dreamshaper/pseuds/Dreamshaper
Summary: Things are going well for the Birds of Prey and for Helena and Dinah in their relationship. When things go bad during a mission though, it will have harsher consequences than any of them has expected.
Relationships: Helena Bertinelli/Dinah Lance
Comments: 92
Kudos: 103





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, another new one, ahem. This is a sequel to Beast Within, it might make sense to read that one first, but is not strictly required.

Sleeping next to a werewolf, Dinah has learned early in the relationship, can be a bit tedious, Helena usually doesn’t need much sleep, but whenever she is asleep, she tends to kick in her dreams, much like a sleeping dog, even though she gets offended each time Dinah makes that comparison.

Some nights, it helps when Dinah pokes the sleeping assassin, other nights, when the dreams appear to be particularly intense, she practically ends up wrapping herself around Helena, in a move she calls “koala-ing her”; and not only does that make Helena stop kicking, it also calms her frantic dreams, and she goes back to a restful, quieter sleep, to Dinah’s relief and her own.

Helena doesn’t talk much about it, not even with Dinah, but Dinah knows she has nightmares, of the day her family has been gunned down, and Helena has revealed that Dinah holding her during the night either keeps the nightmares away fully or makes them stop, and Dinah is more than glad to do this for her, no matter if she can function on just a little bit of sleep or not.

So, they often wake entangled to each other, Helena usually awake before Dinah; and while before Dinah, she’s gotten out of bed at once and has prepared for her day, she now allows herself to just lie there, hold Dinah close and enjoy her warmth against her body and breathe in her scent.

She’s already loved Dinah’s scent before they got together, and she loves it even more now; she’s attuned enough to the singer that she just needs to get a whiff to know how Dinah feels, to know if she’s happy or sad… or in the mood for intimacy, Dinah sometimes jokingly complaining that Helena’s fine nose gives her an unfair advantage.

It’s an advantage they also often make use of during their nightly trips to the shadier parts of Gotham; Helena can sniff out gun oil and drugs with ease, and as many of the thugs they often fight have questionable hygiene, she can smell them, as well, often knowing where they are before Dinah and Renee can see or hear them.

Tonight is another one of those nights, Helena sniffing audibly as they sneak through the harbour - Dinah will never get why so many of the gangs have to do their business at the harbour, it’s almost a cliché at this point, and she knows that the Birds of Prey have gained a reputation by now, so the gangs should be aware that they might be found there by three women ready to kick their asses, and still they meet there ninety percent of the time.

_ Well, guess we should be glad about that _ , Dinah thinks to herself while Helena takes in an audible breath next to her, nostrils flaring as she picks up a scent,  _ it does make our job easier. _

“Got something?” Renee whispers, making Helena nod after a moment; she pulls in another deep breath, concentrating, then turns to face the other two, gesturing at the area behind her, keeping her voice low when she speaks up, making sure no one but Dinah and Renee will hear her.

“Drugs”, she says, “a classic. Bit that way, we should hear them pretty soon once we got moving.”

“A classic, indeed”, Renee mumbles, pulling on her brass knuckles, “Lassie, you go in first, Canary and I will be right behind you.”

Helena just sighs and nods, at this point having given up on telling Renee to stop calling her Lassie; she’s tried for a while, but it’s still better to be called that than Crossbow Killer, and Renee seems to feel the inexplicable need to give her some sort of ridiculous nickname, so Lassie it is.

She’s usually the first to go in when they make a move against one of the many gangs of Gotham, they often pull out guns and start firing when they realize they are under attack, and regular bullets don’t do much to Helena; they slow her down, for a bit, but never for long, and this often upsets their opponents enough that the rest of the fight is fairly easy.

They sneak closer to their target of the night, and Helena can feel Dinah’s eyes on her as she moves; the singer has confessed a while ago that she finds the predatory way she moves during those moments oddly appealing, and while Helena has pointed out that it’s dangerous for Dinah to let this distract her, she feels oddly flattered.

She’s been worried at first, that the wolf might be off-putting for Dinah, that it will turn out to be a dealbreaker at some point; she has been quick to learn though that Dinah loves the beast within her as much as she loves the woman Helena Bertinelli, and while others might have found this strange, Helena is glad about it, the wolf is part of her, and a big part, at that, and it makes her happy that Dinah is not only fine with this part, but finds it appealing.

The gang up ahead distracts her from those ponderings, and she focuses; it might be hard to actually wound her, almost impossible for those who don’t know about her wolf, but it still hurts the way it would hurt a regular human, and she’s not keen on feeling that pain, even if no lasting damage is done to her.

She has been taught that her focus has to be on the fight until the fight is over, no matter what; and that is what she concentrates on, snarling as she moves to attack the surprised men, and there’s a few shots and one of them hits her leg, but she barely feels it, and she can hear the men shout to each other in shock when the wound heals quickly and the bullet falls back out.

“What the fuck!” the man who has fired the one shot which has found its target cries out, then Helena is upon him, slamming into him, her strength surprising him almost as much as the quick healing of her wound has.

He goes down quickly, and Helena turns to face the next opponent; from behind her, she hears Dinah and Renee fight as well, allows herself a second to look and make sure they’re doing okay, then she focuses on the guy in front of her again, barely realizing she is doing it when she snarls at him, but from how his eyes widen, some of the wolf is showing through her teeth, and it clearly has an effect on him.

He takes a step back, and Helena pounces him before he can do more than that; two fast punches take him out, and just as she straightens up again, another guy hits the floor right next to her, flattened by one of Dinah’s high kicks.

There’s a few guys left, and they stand no chance against the three of them; one of them tries to make a run for it, but Helena puts a quick end to that attempt, muscle tensing before she jumps and easily closes the distance between him and herself, landing on his back heavily enough to throw him down, a grunt coming from him when he hits the ground face first.

Not wanting to give him a chance to get back up, Helena punches him and knocks him out fully; and as she comes to her feet again, Renee already pulls out phone, looking satisfied after another successful night out. 

“Good job ladies”, she states, making both Helena and Dinah nod, “I’ll call the police so they’ll pick those bozos up, then victory drinks?”

They both nod again, and Renee walks a few steps away to make the call; and as this gives them some privacy, as well, Helena makes good use of it, smirking as she steps closer to Dinah and wraps both arms around her, Dinah returning the embrace at once, she knows Helena’s blood is up after a fight and by now, they have found a very good way to get that adrenaline back down.

She pulls the taller woman in for a kiss, one which starts fairly innocent, but quickly grows more heated; and when they pull apart again at last, Helena is looking at her in that certain way, Dinah smiling back at her as she rubs tender circles on her back, knowing she enjoys this, even more so when it’s her belly, but that’s only done in the privacy of their home.

“Maybe just one victory drink tonight?” she then suggests, her smile widening when Helena nods at once; and just then, Renee gets done with her phone call, and tells them they should get moving, Helena grasping Dinah’s hand in response, the singer already looking forward to making it back home with her as they head to the car together.


	2. Chapter 2

When Dinah wakes in the next morning, she feels satisfied and good, once more very appreciative of Helena’s heightened stamina; the woman herself is still slumbering soundly next to her, a rare occurrence as she usually wakes up first, and Dinah takes the chance given to study her, taking in how relaxed and calm she looks as she sleeps.

Helena’s sleep seems dreamless this time, as well, judging from the lack of kicking her feet; Dinah figures that this is a good thing, cuddling up to her and holding back a content sigh, not wanting to wake her, she knows Helena is a light sleeper and if she sleeps so calmly for once, she doesn’t want to be the one to wake her up.

So, she carefully rests her head on Helena’s chest, and listens to her heartbeat; she remembers how she has done so the first time, a few months ago, and how startled she has been by how fast Helena’s heart is beating in her chest, for a moment seriously worried that there is something wrong with her girlfriend - until Helena has explained that the average heart rate of a wolf is much higher than that of a human, and has told her it’s a wolf thing, that explanation easily calming the singer down again.

It’s still a bit strange though to hear the fast  _ thump thump thump _ even as Helena is sleeping and relaxed, Dinah figuring she’ll get used to it sooner or later though; and even though she has tried her best to not move too much or make any noise, Helena wakes up a short while later, stirring beneath Dinah before she opens her eyes, the singer once more slightly envious at how fast Helena goes from deeply asleep to wide awake, yet another perk of the wolf within her.

“Morning”, Helena mumbles as their eyes meet, voice raspy from sleep; smiling, Dinah responds with a “morning” of her own, then kisses her tenderly, the kiss bringing back quite pleasant memories of the previous night’s activities, and judging from how Helena’s nostrils flare, she picks up on that at once.  


“You know”, Dinah practically purrs, Helena swallowing heavily in response, her breath quickening when Dinah moves one hand to rub slow, tender circles on her stomach, perfectly aware of what this does to her, “we did get quite… sweaty yesterday night. What with the fighting and everything. We should start our day with a shower.”

“Good idea”, Helena agrees, with an audible hitch in her breath; Dinah smirks at her, and kisses her again, then gets out of bed and, after a  _ look _ at Helena, makes her way into the bathroom, the taller woman scrambling to follow her, Dinah grinning to herself at how fast Helena is right behind her.

“Eager, are we”, she teases as she turns while stepping into the shower, wanting to see the look on Helena’s face; the only response she gets is that Helena lets out a low growl, then her arms wrap around her and she’s kissing her, and for quite a while, she doesn’t think much about anything anymore, only focused on how good Helena and her kiss and touch are making her feel.

* * *

After a very thorough and enjoyable shower, the couple makes breakfast together, with extra bacon for Helena, the way she wolves it down making Dinah shake her head; she’s given up on telling Helena to slow down though, having tried so roughly a dozen times to no avail, by now just used to the fact that Helena tends to eat fast whenever she’s used a lot of energy, no matter if said energy has been used for fighting or activities in the bedroom.

“I wonder if Renee’s gonna have another lead for tonight”, Dinah says after they just have eaten in silence for a while, making Helena nod, “if not, maybe we could do something, that movie we wanted to see has started playing last week.”

“Oh yeah, movie date”, Helena smiles, clearly liking the idea; Dinah knows there hasn’t been much time for activities like going to the movies or out for dinner when she’s been in Sicily, and she makes a point of going out with Helena regularly, have her try new things, so she has more in her life than just fighting bad guys day after day, and she can tell Helena enjoys herself during their outings, a fact which only encourages her further.

“If she has something for tonight, we can do that tomorrow”, Helena adds, making Dinah nod, “we did agree on one free night per week, even if she grumbles about it every now and then.”

“Good plan”, Dinah tells her, stealing a piece of bacon from the taller woman’s plate and smirking at the look Helena shoots her for that; Helena makes no move to get it back though, Dinah munching it down before she finishes her coffee.

Once they’re both done with breakfast, they get ready to head out, Helena wants to get in a workout at the training room of their fake company and Dinah figures there is always some research for them to do once they’re done with training; they take Helena’s bike to their office, Dinah enjoying the ride quite a bit, always liking it to be so close to Helena and to have her arms wrapped around her as the taller woman speeds through the streets of Gotham.

Renee is already there when they arrive, and to the surprise of both Dinah and Helena, so are Harley and Cassandra; they sometimes do show up there, but never so early, and judging from how Harley yawns and is poking at the coffee machine Helena has gotten for their little company, it probably hasn’t been her idea to show up there at this time.

“Hey”, Dinah greets them, Cassandra waving in excitement while Harley grumbles at the coffee machine, apparently not getting anywhere with it, “what are you guys doing here at this hour? Not that we’re not happy to see you.”

She means it as she says it, having forgiven Harley for stealing her car the second she’s brought it back, and she’s always glad to see Cass; Harley gives up on the coffee machine and sighs, and Helena goes to take over for her, the happy grateful look the former psychiatrist shoots her making her smirk a bit.

“How can a single coffee machine be so complicated”, Harley then demands to know, glaring at it as it obediently starts producing coffee after Helena has just pushed a few buttons, “and to think I got a PhD. Anyway! We’re here because I got a good lead for you guys, I wanted to tell you all about and Cass wanted to hang with her favourite songbird and favourite doggo again.”

“I’m a werewolf”, Helena corrects her, her long-suffering tone making Dinah smile a bit, Harley calls her  _ doggo _ each and every time they meet and Helena corrects her each and every time, even though she should know it won’t last, “not a  _ doggo _ . So what’s this lead you got? Drugs? Weapons?”

“Even better”, Harley declares, grabbing the coffee cup and spooning so much sugar into it that Helena raises her brows, “there’s a shipment coming in tonight, bunch of supplies for Gotham General Hospital. And I happened to overhear some goons in my favourite bar last night, talking about how they want to hit that.”

“Course they do”, Dinah says with a look of disgust, it’s not the first time someone tries to steal supplies meant for a hospital and she figures it won’t be the last, but at least this time, they’ll have a chance to stop it, “you got any details?”

Harley does, apparently her favourite bar is one often frequented by the shadier types of Gotham, so they haven’t been very discreet talking about their plans; and Harley has been paying close attention, and now has all the details they need, Renee taking notes as she talks, all four of them looking forward to stopping this group and put an end to yet another gang before they can do any more harm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Of course Harley would hang out at seedy bars. XD


	3. Chapter 3

The delivery the goons have their eyes on is arriving by train, and Dinah is somewhat glad that for once, they’re not at the harbour again, but then, train stations aren’t all too creative, either; Harley has known the time the train is supposed to come in, and they are there an hour before that, so that they will have time to scout the area and find good hiding places.

This at least is easy at the train station, there are many dark corners and areas which are perfect for hiding; Harley has insisted on coming along, and Helena strictly tells her to be quiet before they spread out, each of them finding a good spot to take cover behind, where they can keep an eye on the incoming train and the platform while they won’t be easy to spot, especially not for people who have no idea they are there.

Harley has told them it’s a big shipment, and the fact that the guys show up with two vans confirms this; Helena watches how they park right there on the platform, which is quite brazen, but then, by the time the person operating the train will see them, it will be too late to do anything about it, so she figures they can be rash, and they are smart enough to have covered their faces, she notes as they jump from their vehicles.

They put their heads together and discuss their plans, and even Helena with her better than average hearing can’t hear what they are saying; she can see Renee and Dinah though, and raises her brows at them, Renee nodding her agreement, Dinah doing the same a moment later.

Helena can’t see Harley from her spot, but she sees Dinah nod at the spot where she has seen Harley last, so she figures she has gotten the signal, as well; and so, she gets moving, the other three doing the same a second later, the men just having time to look at them in surprise when they rush at them.

Helena pounces the one nearest to her, and easily knocks him out, from the corner of her eye, she can see one of the others pull back his fist, but Renee is upon him before he can do more than that and slams a brass-knuckled fist into his stomach; Dinah is making ample use of her bat, and Harley has brought her mallet, guys falling left and right as the four women go to work on them.

From the corner of her eye, Helena sees one run and hop into the van, she figures he’ll make a run for it; the train is appearing in the distance, dim lights up ahead, and then the van’s lights flash up as the guy starts the engine, and only when they perfectly illuminate Dinah and the engine roars, Helena realizes he’s not planning to drive away.

She sees Dinah turn towards the car, eyes wide as it rushes towards her, and Helena doesn’t think, she just acts, she shoots forward and shoves Dinah as hard as she can; she still has a second to see Dinah hit the ground a few feet away, then the van slams into her, and there’s pain, and even more pain when it drives her into something hard and unyielding, and then the world darkens around her.

* * *

_ “Helena!” _ The cry which rips free from Dinah’s throat is enough to throw several men over, and Renee and Harley stagger, having had no warning to cover their ears, but Dinah doesn’t notice, all she can stare at is the smoking wreck of the van, it has hit Helena and then it has hit the wall, and she knows Helena can take a lot when it comes to injuries, but she’s afraid, so afraid, that this has been too much even for her, that she is pinned between that car and that wall, dying or already dead.

She starts towards the van, she has to know, she has to know  _ now, _ and one of the few men still left standing steps in her way; Dinah yells at him, a short but harsh shout, and he goes down, clutching at his head and screaming, and that should have been enough to discourage any of the few still left, but it isn’t, another one moving to stop her while behind him, the van’s driver staggers out of the ruined vehicle and yanks off his mask, blood streaming down his face.

Dinah is ready to kill him where he stands, for what he has done to her girl, but she has to get rid of the other guy first, and she narrows her eyes as he brandishes a crowbar and tries to look threatening; Dinah brings up her fists, and that is when the roar echoes through the night and the van isn’t just shoved, but  _ flies _ past her, if she’d been standing a few more inches to the right, it would have hit her on the way past.

Dinah is too relieved though by seeing Helena alive and well to be upset about almost getting hit by the van; Helena has gone full wolf again, which isn’t surprising, considering what Dinah knows about this, and she finds herself smiling as the werewolf roars, then jumps the guy in front of her, the crowbar clattering from his hand as he shrieks in fear.

His shriek is cut off abruptly when Helena’s massive jaws snap shut and rip out his throat, and Dinah’s smile fades, because while she has seen Helena go full wolf before, she never has actually seen her use her teeth to kill.

The man dies, and the one who’s driven the van tries to stagger away still; Helena pounces him before he can get further away than a few steps, and he screams, and just like the other guy, he stops quickly when Helena bites down again, easily snapping through his neck and throat.

“Holy crap”, Harley says from behind Dinah, unaware of the horrified way the singer is staring at the werewolf, “okay, you guys have told me she’s a werewolf, but that is badass.”

“Harley”, Dinah manages, unable to look away from Helena, the werewolf staring back at her with blood dripping from her teeth, “shut up.”

“What”, Harley says, blinking, lowering her mallet, “rude, why would you--”

Helena growls, and Dinah knows what the way her body tenses means; she quickly steps in front of Harley, having a second to hope this will work as she sharply says “no!”, relieved when Helena relaxes again after a moment, her lips still pulled back from disconcertingly sharp and pointy teeth though, Dinah swallowing heavily as yellow eyes meet hers.

There’s something in these eyes she’s never seen before, not in this intensity, something primal and wild; and there is no recognition at all, so far, Helena always shown that she is aware of who she is and aware of who Dinah is when she’s been full wolf, but this time, there is nothing of that in those eyes.

“Don’t move”, Dinah manages, Harley glancing at her from the corner of her eye, but thankfully not turning her head to do so, “that’s… not Helena right now. Not the Helena we know.”

There’s an odd sound, like a sort of subdued gunshot, and suddenly, there’s an arrow sticking out of Helena’s neck; she lets out another roar, and starts coming to her feet, only to stagger and go back down a second later, and once again, Dinah can only stare while Renee lowers the tranquilizer gun and lets out the breath she’s been holding.

“Alright”, she then says, Dinah gaping at her in disbelief, “Lassie’s gone to sleep, and will sleep for an hour or two. Now what the fuck do we do about this?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh oh...


	4. Chapter 4

“What the fuck”, Dinah regains her ability to speak while Renee walks over and pokes Helena with her boot, then kneels down next to her when there is no reaction, the werewolf fast asleep, “you carry a fucking tranq gun? Why?”

“In case something like this happens”, Renee tells her, in a patient tone, as if Dinah just has asked the dumbest question possible, “and good thing, too, or she might have eaten both Harley and you. Come on, we have to get her into the car, make sure she’s in a safe place when she comes back around.”

“So this is not a normal thing to happen when she goes doggo?” Harley wants to know as they move to pick Helena up, all three of them grunting at the weight of the werewolf, Dinah already knows Helena is heavier than she looks when human, but this bulky wolf form weighs quite a bit more still, “not sure if that should be calming or worrisome.”

“That doesn’t happen”, Dinah manages, having to pause for a breath, glad that Renee’s car isn’t parked too far way, “she’s gone wolf before. Never like this.”

They get her into the backseat of the car with a bit of swearing and sweating, and as there’s not enough room left for Dinah to sit as well, she ends up wedged between the backseat and the passenger seat; it’s not comfortable, but she figures she can deal, even though this brings her fairly close to Helena’s head, close enough so she can see the droplets of blood drying in the fur around her mouth.

She certainly hopes Renee has been right when she’s said the tranquilizer will knock Helena out for an hour or two, because if she’s wrong and Helena wakes, Dinah knows she can’t be sure that her first instinct won’t be to bite her, and with how close she is to her, there is no way she could avoid it.

For the moment though, Helena is fast asleep, and she remains this way for the rest of the drive; she doesn’t stir when they pull her out of the car and carry her into their building, Dinah frowning when Renee says they should go to the training room.

“Some sturdy pipes there”, she adds, Dinah’s frown deepening, “I’ll find a chain or something.”

“We’re not chaining her down like some wild animal!” Dinah protests at once, Harley making a face as well, “she might be back to normal when she comes back around, what will she think then?!”

“She might be, yeah”, Renee tells her as they make their way to the training room and lower Helena to the floor there, “and if she is, well, then all is good. But if she isn’t, if she’s still stuck in this… wolf mode, then I don’t want her able to pounce any of us.”

Dinah doesn’t like the idea of Helena not being back to her normal self upon waking, but she has to admit to herself it’s possible; and so, she doesn’t protest when Renee does find a chain and wraps it around one of the werewolf’s ankles, then locks it to the pipes mounted to the wall, she’s not actually sure this will hold if Helena really puts her mind to breaking free, but in case she still is in angry wolf mode, it will be better than nothing, and might buy them some time.

“Shit”, she lets out, running a nervous hand through her hair, realizing she has no idea what to do if Helena isn’t back to normal when she’ll wake up again; Helena has told her a few things about her wolf, but she never has mentioned this might happen, Dinah feeling lost and helpless as she stares at the slumbering werewolf.

“Damn, it’s too bad we don’t know any other werewolves”, Harley says, making a face and taking a cautious step back when Helena twitches in her sleep, “if we did, we could ask them for help with this.”

“The guys!” Dinah practically yelps in response, making both Harley and Renee jump before they both give her a clueless look; she takes a moment for a calming breath, excited again now as this might be a solution, and something she can do, so she won’t just have to sit around and wait.

“The guys in Sicily”, she explains, Renee raising her brows, “who raised Helena? They’ve turned her, too, they’re werewolves, they’ll know what to do.”

“You know how to contact them?” Renee wants to know, and Dinah nods at once, then hurries out of the training room and to the office area, pulling open one of the drawers, smiling to herself when she finds Helena’s phone in it, as she has hoped she would.

“Helena never brings her phone to a mission”, she explains as Harley eyes the phone, not having an idea why Dinah is so happy about having found it, “she’s worried about losing it or that it might break. Good thing too, it probably wouldn’t have survived… what that guy did to her.”

Unbidden, the image flashes up in her mind, of how Helena has pushed her out of the way, saving her life, and of how the van has hit her, has slammed her against the wall; she pauses and takes a deep, controlled breath, pushes the images out of her mind, tells herself that Helena is physically okay and that certainly, the guys in Sicily will know what to do about her strange mental state.

“I hope you know her lock code, doll”, Harley pipes up, distracting her from her dark thoughts, and she’s thankful for it; she smiles a bit and nods, then unlocks the phone and figures that the most recent contacts will be the most helpful, quickly pulling them up and going through them.

She’s first in the list, Helena having called her the previous day; on second place, there’s a contact named  _ Sal _ , and Dinah remembers what Helena has told her about the day of the Bertinelli Massacre, how she has been shot and Sal has found her, figuring that this has to be exactly that Sal.

“Well”, she says, her thumb hovering over the Call button as she suddenly feels a bit uneasy, she has no idea what Helena has told this man about them, whenever she speaks to him, they do so in Sicilian, and Dinah doesn’t speak that language, “here goes nothing.”

She pushes the button, having a moment to think about time differences and hoping she’s not waking the man as she holds the phone to her ear; and then, the call is taken after just the second ring, the man sounding quite awake and alert, so Dinah hopes she hasn’t woken him.

“Helena”, he greets, the warmth in his voice making her smile even though she knows it’s not aimed at her, “ _ cucciolo.” _

“Uhm, this isn’t Helena”, Dinah tells him, hoping he speaks English, but then, she reasons, he has been working for the Bertinellis before the massacre, “this is Dinah, her--”

“Her girlfriend”, he interrupts her, then seems to realize this is impolite, sounding a bit sheepish when he apologizes and continues, “but I imagine this is not a social call. What’s wrong?”

Dinah quickly tells him what has happened, how Helena has saved her life and has ended up wolfing out after getting badly hurt, and how she has acted feral and wild afterwards, deciding not to mention who of them has knocked her out, she’s not sure what Sal will think of that and doesn’t want to make him think badly of Renee before they even have met.

“Damn”, Sal quietly says, the concern in his voice touching Dinah, “this is bad, I’ve heard of this but… I need to speak with the others about this. I’ll get back to you, make sure to keep Helena’s phone on you and… maybe… stay away from her as long as she is like that.”

That’s not what Dinah has wanted to hear, she’s been hoping that Sal would just tell her a sort of magical cure for what has happened; she now has to realize that this has been foolish, and holds back a sigh, letting him know that she’ll keep in mind what he has said and thanking him for his help.

“I’ll call you as soon as I know something”, Sal reassures her, his tone softening as he goes on, “hang in there until then, alright? It’s going to be okay.”

“Thank you”, Dinah tells him, then ends the call; now she does sigh before she tells Renee and Harley what Sal has said to her, not mentioning that he has told her to stay away from Helena though, she knows Renee wouldn’t let her get within ten feet of the training room if she knew about this and she is not willing to let that happen.

“I’m sure they will figure something out”, Renee tells her once she has finished, “if anyone can figure this out, it’s these guys. You’ll see.”

Dinah makes herself smile, and nod, hoping that Renee is right and that this will be resolved soon so she’ll get her Helena back, and that they won’t be stuck with this wild, feral version of her for too long.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank goodness Renee came prepared x)


	5. Chapter 5

Dinah doesn’t just want to sit around and wait for Sal to call her back with some information, and so, she decides to get some research done on her own, even though it’s getting late and she’s feeling tired; the thought of going back to the apartment while Helena is chained up in the training room makes her heart clench though, and she knows she wouldn’t get much sleep even if she did go home, and so, she stays and starts up one of the computers while Renee and Harley let her know they’re heading out for the night.

“Take care”, Renee tells her, with a glance towards the closed training room door; Dinah just nods, and almost expects a lecture from the former cop on how she should stay away from Helena for the time being, but thankfully, Renee doesn’t say anything, just wishes her a good night before Harley and she head out, and just like that, Dinah is alone at the office with the still knocked out Helena next room.

Before she gets to work, Dinah figures she might as well get herself a little energy boost, and makes her way to the coffee machine; and as she pushes buttons, she thinks back to the conversation she’s had with Helena about this, how she has told her she’d die without coffee and how Helena has taken that quite literal and has looked all worried and concerned, having promised her that a coffee machine would be the next day, and it had been.

Her heart clenches at the memories, they had barely known each other back then, but she already had been intrigued by Helena, and attracted to her; and things had worked out for them, had worked so much better than she ever would have dared to hope, and suddenly she is angry, at the man who has done this and at life in general at the unfairness of it all.

_ Of course it was too good to last _ , she bitterly thinks to herself, pushing the buttons a bit harder than necessary,  _ of course something had to happen to make things bad again. Guess I’ve been happy and content for too long, so the universe had to fuck with me. _

She glares at the coffee machine as if it’s to blame, but the device is unperturbed, brewing the coffee as Dinah has instructed it to; and just when it gets done and hisses, she hears a low growl from the training room, and immediately forgets all about the coffee.

Both Sal and Renee have told her to stay away from Helena while she is like this, but Dinah can’t do that, it’d be as if they’d ask her to stop breathing; for a moment, she wonders if this truly is a bad idea, she’s alone here with Helena and if something happens, there’ll be no one around to help her, but on the other hand, she reasons to herself as she already walks to the door, she has her canary cry, and she knows that will be enough to keep Helena at bay, perhaps even knock her out again.

So, Dinah opens the door to the training room and peers inside; Helena is sitting upright, glaring at the chain, but her head whips around when the door opens, and the wildness is still there in her yellow eyes, showing Dinah at once that the tranquilizer has had no added effect.

“Hey”, she still says, making sure to sound kind and calm, she’s nervous, but it won’t do to let Helena pick up on that, not as long as she’s like this, “I’m… not sure you’re understanding me right now but… We’ll figure this out, alright? We’ll figure out how to get you back and--”

Helena lunges, and Dinah has one second to think of the chain, then she hears said chain snap audibly, and another second later, Helena is upon her and throws her onto her back, and she realizes how foolish she has been, thinking she’d actually have a chance to avoid or stop this, she knows how fast and strong Helena is in this form, and yet she’s been stupid enough to think she could handle it.

Helena growls at her, having her pinned to the ground, but at least, Dinah thinks to herself, she hasn’t been bitten yet; she’s seen how fast those jaws can come down and snap shut, but for the moment, Helena is just staring down at her, and growling, Dinah swallowing heavily, determined to have her voice steady when she speaks up after a few tense seconds have gone by.

“Helena”, she says, glad when she’s not bitten at once in reply, “you don’t want to hurt me, you know that. It’s me. Dinah.”

She’s not sure it’s smart to move, but Helena does relax, she doesn’t move back yet and let her get up, but she stops growling; and after a second, Dinah slowly dares to reach up, smiling a bit when Helena watches her closely, but makes no move to stop her.

“Good”, she says, figuring it can’t hurt to let Helena hear her voice some more, it has stopped the growling after all, “you know I won’t hurt you, and you won’t hurt me. Right?”

Still moving slow, she moves her hand to the werewolf’s head, a vague idea having formed; she’s not sure it will work, but figures it’s worth a try, Helena going tense again for a second when Dinah makes contact - before the singer starts scratching her behind the ear, and she relaxes at once, Dinah smirking at this reaction.

“Yeah, you like that, I know you do”, she says, moving her other hand up as well so she can give the same treatment to the other ear, “now let me get up, please?”

Instead of moving back so Dinah can do that, Helena slumps down on her with a content huff, and Dinah grunts at the unexpected weight on her; she’s not quite sure she can take that for long, Helena is quite heavier than is comfortable, but thankfully, the werewolf seems to sense her distress, as she gets up again and moves off of her, giving her room to sit up at last.

“Thanks”, she says, figuring it can’t hurt to be polite even if Helena might not understand her right now, “you know I love cuddling you when you’re… less furry, but right now you’re kinda heavy.”

Helena huffs again at that, almost sounding offended; Dinah smiles at her, then reaches out to scratch her behind the ear again, glad when this makes her relax further, until she settles down so that her head ends up in Dinah’s lap. 

“Aw”, Dinah lets out, this is quite adorable, and even though she would have preferred Helena back to normal, she figures it’s still better than Helena wild and angry and wanting to eat her, “there you go, is that comfy?”

She moves her hand to run it through the werewolf’s fur, a bit amazed at how soft it is, compared to how rough it looks; Helena huffs again at her touch, and she smiles, rubbing slow circles as she speaks up again, once more making sure her voice is kind and calm.

“So”, she says, “you’re not angry feral wolf Helena anymore, which is good. Think you can go back to human Helena?”

There’s no real reaction this time, Helena just remaining where she is, clearly comfortable; and even though this makes Dinah’s heart clench up again, she tells herself this is good, this is progress, and just keeps rubbing her fur, telling herself that sooner or later, Helena will snap out of this fully and be back to her regular self, and that she’ll just have to be patient until then.

She only hopes it won’t be too long until this will happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good thing that even in feral wolf form, Helena is <3 for Dinah XD


	6. Chapter 6

Only when Renee’s voice tears her out of her sleep, Dinah realizes she has fallen asleep, her head resting on Helena as the werewolf is slumbering by her side; it’s certainly an adorable sight, but Renee doesn’t seem to agree, sounding upset as she shakes her head at the singer.

“What the Hell, Dinah”, she demands, crossing her arms over her chest, Dinah sitting up while Helena opens her eyes and huffs, “I told you not to get close to her, she could have hurt you! Or worse!”

“She would never”, Dinah protests at once, skillfully ignoring the fact that there was no way she could have known that for sure, “and your awesome idea with the chain didn’t work, either, that didn’t hold her for two seconds. If she’d wanted to, she’d be long gone.”

“Well,you couldn’t know if she’d hurt you or not”, Renee argues, voice rising, Dinah doesn’t mind as she knows Renee means well and just is worried for her; Helena doesn’t seem to be aware of it in this form though, as she starts to growl lowly, Dinah isn’t sure Renee can hear, but she can, and she can feel it, too, low vibrations from the werewolf’s chest.

“Renee”, she says quietly as the former cop keeps glaring, “you might want to… calm down.”

“Why”, Renee demands to know, making Dinah fairly certain that she can’t hear the growling, “you know I’m right, it was stupid to go in here as long as she’s like this!”

“That may be so”, Dinah freely admits, and Renee blinks in surprise, “but right now, she’s not happy about you yelling at me, and while she seems to have an idea who I am, I’m not so sure about you. There, there, Helena, it’s okay.”

She starts rubbing the werewolf’s fur, Renee shaking her head at the sight, but at least, Dinah thinks to herself, she does lower her voice; she gives Helena a nervous look as she speaks up again, but as she is no longer shouting, Helena stops growling, too, Dinah taking note of how she keeps her gaze on the former cop though.

“So she remembers you”, Renee states, eying Helena as the werewolf stares back at her, the unblinking yellow stare making Renee a bit uneasy, “that’s kind of adorable. But she has no idea about me? That’s sort of insulting.”

“Aw”, Dinah lets out, still rubbing Helena’s neck, just to be on the safe side, even though Helena has relaxed noticeably again, “I’m sure she’d apologize if she could. But yeah, she does seem to know who I am, enough at least so she doesn’t want to eat me.”

“Good”, Renee dryly says, “but who knows what ideas she might get once she gets hungry, so I brought some steak. Maybe that will endear me to her, too.”

She smirks as she lifts up the plastic bag she has brought and opens it; and clearly, Helena picks up the scent of the meat within, as she comes to her feet at once, Dinah unable to hold back laughter when her tongue actually hangs out of her mouth, Helena has told her a few times that she is a werewolf and not a dog, but right in this moment, there’s not much of the threatening wolf left. 

“Yeah, she likes that”, Renee says with a little smirk, reaching into the bag and pulling out a well-sized piece of meat, “there you go Lassie, catch!

She tosses the steak, snickering when Helena bounds forward and catches it with ease; then, she notices how Dinah is glaring at her and shrugs, pulling a second raw steak from the bag and tossing it close to Helena, a happy huff coming from the werewolf in response.

“Don’t treat her like a pet dog”, Dinah strictly says, even though it is sort of adorable, how happily the werewolf starts munching down the meat, “next you’ll ask her to play dead?”

“What, I’m making the best of this mess”, Renee shrugs, Helena finishing with the first steak and moving on to the second one, “and keeping her well fed can’t hurt, as long as she is like… this. Did her werewolf friend call?”

“Not sure, let me check”, Dinah tells her, momentarily feeling bad as Sal has told her to keep Helena’s phone near; she gets up and moves towards the door, and practically immediately, Helena gulps down what is left of the second steak and trots along behind her, towering over her enough so that Renee automatically steps out of the way when they approach her.

“Yikes”, she then says as Dinah passes her, Helena right behind her, “looks like you got your own hairy bodyguard now. Maybe you don’t want to walk around town too much with her like that?”

“In Gotham?” Dinah points out in response, taking the phone and unlocking it, glad when there are no missed calls or unread messages, “no one would bat an eye. Also, it’s very unlikely that someone will get any ideas about mugging me or something, and I’m not sure it’s a good idea to keep her cooped up here.”

“What, you gonna take her for a walk around the neighbourhood?” Renee wants to know, raising her brows, “or, even better, take her along when we go out to fight again, that will work out well.”

“No”, Dinah replies with a roll of her eyes, “no need to be so sarcastic, jeez. I hope Sal will call soon and tell us how to fix this.”

“Very subtle way of changing the topic”, Renee comments, Dinah rolling her eyes again, “but yeah, let’s hope so, if only so you’ll get your proper version of Lassie back.”

Helena growls, and Renee falls silent, going wide-eyed; Dinah lets out a snort of laughter, smirking at the look the former cop shoots her for that and shrugging, sliding Helena’s phone into her pocket as she speaks up.

“She’s never liked it when you’ve called her Lassie”, she points out, Renee making a face as she knows this is a good point, “and she apparently likes it even less now.”

“Okay, fine, no more of that nickname until she’s back to normal”, Renee says at once, eying Helena warily, the werewolf staring back at her, “I really don’t want her to get mad at me as long as she’s like this.”

Dinah just smirks again, she’s fairly certain she would be able to calm Helena down again at this point, should she really get mad, but then, it might be better to not take any risks; and even though she has been talking about taking Helena along, she figures it’d be smarter to not do so, turning to look at her, Renee raising her brows when she starts scratching her behind the ears again as she speaks up.

“Helena, honey”, she says, “I gotta go away for a little while, but I’ll come back quickly, alright? Just need to get some clothes and stuff. Wait here for me, alright?”

Helena lets out an unhappy whine in response, clearly not happy about hearing this, but she does lower herself down to the ground next to the door; Dinan gives the top of her head another brief rub, then tells Renee she’ll just grab some things from her home and will be back soon, Renee nodding her agreement, eying Helena as she goes to start one of the computers.

The werewolf pretty much ignores her though, staying close to the door as Dinah heads out; and even though she shakes her head, Renee smiles a bit at how devoted Helena is even in this state, figuring that things will be okay sooner or later as she gets to work, quite sure all at once that Helena will snap out of this strange state soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just like Helena, it is possible for people to endear themselves to me with steak. XD Or food in general. XD


	7. Chapter 7

When Dinah returns to the office building, Helena is still at the door, coming to her feet the second she enters; she raises her brows, and Renee shrugs at the look on Dinah’s face, keeping her gaze fixed on the computer in front of her as she speaks up.

“She’s been sitting next to that door since you’d left”, she says, Dinah feeling oddly touched at hearing that, “pretty much ignored me the whole time.”

“Aw”, Dinah lets out, rubbing the werewolf’s head and earning another happy huff, “that’s sort of cute.”

Renee just shrugs again, keeping her focus on her work; leaving her to it, Dinah carries the duffel bag she’s brought to the training room, not quite surprised when Helena follows her again, trotting along behind her and lowering herself onto the ground again when Dinah puts the bag down next to the cots they use whenever they sleep at their headquarters.

“So”, she then says, turning to face Helena, “I got a bunch of clothes, so I can stay here with you for a while. Renee might have a point when she says you shouldn’t walk around outside too much as long as you’re like this.”

Helena lets out another huff, and Dinah rubs her head again, amused when she responds with wagging her tail; she makes a mental note to tease her about this once she’s back to normal, then starts unpacking her things, Helena watching her with great attention, as if this is the most interesting thing in the world. 

Just when Dinah gets done with that task, Helena’s phone vibrates in her pocket, and she jumps, suddenly excited as she pulls it out; it’s a text from Sal, she sees, asking if it’s okay to call her, and she sends back a quick “sure”, eager to find out what he has managed to learn about Helena’s condition.

The phone rings mere seconds after she has sent the text, and she quickly takes the call, perhaps sounding a bit too enthusiastic when she greets the man, but unable to help herself; and Sal doesn’t sound upset or dismayed either when he returns the greeting, so she hopes this means he won’t have bad news.

“So, I’ve spoken to my father, and several older werewolves he knows”, Sal lets her know, not beating around the bush much, and Dinah figures this is where Helena has her own bluntness from, considering this is one of the men who’ve raised her, “what happened to Helena doesn’t happen often, but it has happened before.”

“So”, Dinah wants to know, feeling impatient now, she knows the man means well, but she’s really in no mood to hear stories of werewolf lore, “how can we fix it?”

“You can’t”, Sal bluntly says, and Dinah blinks, her mouth falling open, Helena raising her head at that reaction.

“You’re not telling me she’s stuck like that, right”, Dinah wants to know, suddenly deeply frightened of what that answer to that might be, “surely there can be done something?”

“No”, Sal replies, and Dinah feels her heart sink as sudden dread fills her, even though some of the harshness is taken from Sal’s words when he goes on, “nothing to speed recovery up, at least. This can happen, sometimes, when a werewolf is badly injured, the wolf… takes over, for lack of a better word. But in each documented case, the person has been back to normal after a while, depending on the severity of the injuries. Just keep her from getting hurt again and she’ll be back to normal at some point.”

“Alright”, Dinah says with a small sigh, she has been hoping for a sort of magical cure, but at least, she tells herself, Sal hasn’t told her that Helena is stuck like that forever, “we’re not planning to take her out much anyway, so not having her get hurt again should be easy.”

“Good”, Sal tells her, making her smile a bit again, “she’ll be back to normal in no time then. How is she?”   


“Cuddly”, Dinah lets him know, smiling a bit at the little noise of surprise he lets out, “with me, at least. Not so much with anyone else.”

“Huh”, Sal lets out, and she smiles a bit again at how honestly stunned he sounds, “well, that is new. In all the cases we know of, the wolves were aggressive towards anyone. Lucky you, I suppose?”

“I guess so”, Dinah says, rubbing Helena’s head again and making her huff, “alright, thanks for your help, I’ll keep you posted about Helena.”

“Alright”, Sal agrees, and Dinah thanks him again for his help before she ends the call; she tucks the phone away, then smiles at Helena, moving one hand to rub her behind the ears, smile widening when Helena enthusiastically wags her tail in response.

“Okay, so”, she then says, “Sal says you’ll be back to normal at some point, hopefully soon. We’ll just have to keep you from getting hurt until then.”

She gives Helena’s head another pat, then comes to her feet, heading out of the training room so she can give Renee the news; and once again, Helena trots along behind her, settling at her feet when Dinah takes a seat on the desk Renee is working at.

“Sal called”, she starts without preamble, Renee stopping her work on the computer so she can look at her curiously, “he said there’s on real way to fix it, all we can do is wait for it to get better on its own. He said that apparently, this can happen to werewolves when they get badly hurt.”

“Figures”, Renee sighs, making Dinah nod at once, “but at least it will get better at some point. Did he say how long that might take?”

“No”, Dinah sighs, looking at Helena again, the werewolf looking perfectly content as she rests at her feet, “just that we should keep her from getting hurt again, that might make it worse.”

She falls silent, and swallows heavily, Renee sensing that she’s not done, and thus not speaking up; Dinah stares at Helena for almost a minute, and when her gaze does move to Renee again, she suddenly looks desolate and pained, Renee a bit taken aback by this, not quite having expected such heavy emotion all at once.

“This is my fault”, Dinah quietly says, and Renee blinks, she has been there after all and has seen what has happened, so she doesn’t agree with that sentiment, “if she hadn’t saved me…”

“Then you would be dead now”, Renee reminds her, and she grimaces, “you’re not a werewolf with super healing. And you didn’t drive that van. So tell me how it’s your fault?”

Dinah opens her mouth to respond, but realizes she doesn’t quite have an answer, not after the points Renee has made; the former cop’s gaze softens, and she places one hand on Dinah’s shoulder, Helena briefly raising her head at that, but settling down again quickly when Dinah doesn’t react negatively to the touch.

“It’s not your fault”, Renee says empathically, “and Helena would tell you the same if she could. You know she doesn’t blame you, so don’t blame yourself, either.”

Dinah sighs, this is easier said than done, and she knows that Renee is aware of this, as well; Renee gives her a reassuring smile, glad when Dinah smiles back after a moment, looking a bit less desolate now, to the former cop’s relief.

And just when Renee pulls her hand back, Helena starts to growl, coming to her feet with her gaze fixed firmly on the door, the way her lips have pulled back to reveal her sharp and pointy teeth and the continuous growling making it clear that something is quite upsetting to her.

“What’s going on”, Renee asks, confused; Dinah can only shrug, then takes note of how Helena keeps staring at the door, as if she expects something or someone to burst through any moment.

“Not quite sure”, she says out loud, getting up from her seat just in case, and prompting Renee to do the same, “but I think someone’s coming, and it’s not a friendly visit.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun dun duuuuun...


	8. Chapter 8

_ Don’t let Helena get hurt _ , Dinah tells herself as she keeps her gaze focused firmly on the door, taking in a slow, controlled breath, figuring she might as well Canary Cry anyone who might burst through any second to attack them - before she realizes that Helena might not be there enough to cover her ears when being told so, and the cry might do more harm than good then, hurt her and do the exact opposite of what Dinah wants.

There’s a knock at the door, and Dinah tenses, glancing towards the window, but she can’t see anyone through it, the angle’s all wrong; there’s another knock, and from the corner of her eye, she sees Renee move her hand to the gun she carries on her hip, only for both of them to relax when a very familiar voice comes from outside.

“I know you’re in there, birdies!” Harley shouts, knocking again, “come on, open up!”

Helena growls again, and Dinah frowns, not quite sure anymore now why she would react so strongly; she gives her head a few reassuring rubs, then goes to open the door, and realizes why Helena seems so dismayed when she sees it’s not just Harley outside.

“Harley”, she says, sighing a bit, “you do know we have a werewolf here who is not in perfect control of herself right now, and still you bring your hyena?”

“I had to walk him”, Harley shrugs, and Dinah rolls her eyes while Renee shakes her head, taking her hand off the gun though, and eying Helena, who is staring at the hyena in question and growling, “and I figured I might drop by and see how Helena is doing. Helena, stop making that noise at poor Bruce! Bad doggo!”

Helena only growls louder, apparently not appreciating it to be called doggo; and Bruce seems to get fed up with being growled at as well, baring his teeth in response, Harley shaking her head at their antics.

“Okay”, she then states, while Dinah places a hopefully calming hand on the werewolf’s back, she figures Helena could gobble Bruce up in one bite if she decided to do so, and she really doesn’t want that to happen, “clearly, Helena is still her growly self, I was hoping she’d be better by now. Anything can be done about that?”

“No”, Dinah tells her, and Harley makes a face, “all we can do is wait, Sal called and explained. She’s gonna go back to normal on her own, after a while.”

“Aw”, Harley lets out, “okay, so you girls are down a bird for the time being. Or a wolf, as it is. Anyway, I’m not just here to check in on doggo, I also got news about our shipment-stealing friends.”

“Maybe you should have Bruce wait outside before you tell us”, Renee comments, Helena has stopped growling at this point, but it is still staring at Bruce quite intensely, “Helena doesn’t seem happy to have him in here.”

“Alright”, Harley sighs, taking Bruce outside, and Dinah sincerely hopes she’ll use his leash to tie him down somewhere and won’t just let him wander around; it takes her a while to get back, so Dinah figures she has done just that, glad when Helena stops growling the moment she steps back inside without the hyena in tow.

“Rude doggo”, Harley tells the werewolf, wagging her finger at her for emphasis, “I’ll scold you for that once you’re back to normal. Anyway! The shipment thieves.”

“Two of those are dead, no”, Dinah wants to know, frowning, she has seen Helena take them down herself after all, shortly after the assassin had been hit by the van; Harley nods, and that’s sort of a relief, but she knows there’d been more than two, something Harley confirms as she replies.

“They are, but the others are alive, and pissed”, she lets them know, Renee making a face as she realizes that they had been in such a hurry to get Helena back to their headquarters that night that they’d just left the unconscious goons there, “and at least one of them has seen Helena in all her doggo glory. So far, nobody seems to believe him when he talks about it, but, well…”

“And they know who we are”, Dinah half states, half asks, not surprised when Harley nods, they have been making quite the name for themselves after all and are kind of hard to confuse with someone else, “they after us now?”

“Yup”, Harley confirms, sounding a bit too cheerful considering what she is saying, but then, Dinah figures, it  _ is  _ Harley, “and nobody might believe them about Helena, but they believe it, so they’re arming up. They’ve asked around for silver bullets and weapons.”

“Shit”, Dinah swears, Renee making a face as well, “alright, they don’t know our headquarters are here, so at least they can’t hit us here out of nowhere. But we need to find them before they find us, get the surprise on our side.”

“Yup”, Harley says again, smiling cheerfully, “that is why I brought Bruce! I got one of them drunk last night, asked him a few things, so I know where they are hiding out now!”

Renee raises her brows at that, clearly impressed, while Dinah smiles a bit as well, thankful for Harley’s help; she tells her as much, and Harley grins again, then shrugs, going from a cheerful grin to thoughtful within a second, but they all know her at this point, and are somewhat used to the sudden changes her mood can go through within one conversation.

“I am trying to be less of a terrible person”, she tells them, something they are aware of, so both Dinah and Renee just nod, “if only for Cass, what with the kid looking up to me and shit. And you guys have helped me out, so now I want to return the favour. Right, doggo?”

She reaches out before Dinah can make a move to stop her, and pets Helena’s head; the werewolf reacts with a low growl and yellow eyes narrowing, and Harley quickly steps back, letting out “yeesh” as Dinah shakes her head, rubbing Helena’s back again to get her to calm down once more.

“She’s not big on being touched right now”, she states the obvious, Harley mumbling “no kidding” while Renee smirks a bit, “well, except for when it’s me. Anyway, we better go and take those guys down, before they can get to us.”

“I’ll come”, Harley declares, making them both nod, she’ll be a good third member as long as Helena is in this state and can’t come with them, “and Bruce, too, he needs some exercise. You guys want to go right now? They might still be hungover from yesterday and easy to take down.”

“Good point”, Renee nods, coming to her feet, “alright, let’s go. Dinah, you in?”

“Sure”, Dinah says at once, then turns towards Helena, moving her hands to rub her back, once more amazed at how soft the fur is despite how rough it looks.

“We’re going out for a while”, she tells the werewolf, “but I want you to stay here and wait for us, okay? We won’t be gone for long.”

Helena whines a bit at that, apparently understanding her enough at this point to realize what she is saying, Dinah rubs her fur again in response and reassures her it’ll be okay, a bit relieved when Helena settles on the floor, and doesn’t get up when Dinah moves to where Harley is still standing near the door.

“Alright”, she says, Harley grinning while Renee joins them as well, slipping her brass knuckles into her pocket as she walks, “let’s go kick some ass.”

Together, they head out, Harley bringing Bruce along as she has said, Dinah once again feeling bad about leaving Helena behind, but telling herself this is the right thing to do, even though her heart clenches up when she thinks of the whine Helena has let out in response, telling herself she’ll make it up to her once she’s back to normal, the thought making her feel much better about the whole situation. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Those of you guessed it's Harley and not actual bad people, congrats! XD


	9. Chapter 9

The hideout Harley has mentioned is close to the train station, and Dinah figures this makes sense, once the gang does manage to steal a shipment for a hospital, they might want to get it to a safe place quickly, and not drive through half of Gotham with it; they’ve occupied what apparently has been a sort of factory hall at some point, but judging from the state it is in, it has been abandoned for quite a while.

“Well, they are smarter than I gave them credit for”, Renee comments as she makes sure her gun is loaded, “looks no different to the ones around it, big enough to hide a lot of stuff, and probably a bunch of hiding places for them, as well.”

“Damn, Helena and her fine nose would really be useful now”, Dinah sighs, making the other two nod, “but we’ll have to make do without that. You guys ready?”

“Ready”, Harley nods, taking the leash off of Bruce’s collar; Dinah isn’t quite sure if bringing him is truly a good idea, not quite certain how well hyenas actually can be trained, but Harley seems confident it’s a good idea, so she doesn’t start a debate about it now.

_ Damn, I wish Helena was here _ , she thinks to herself again, holding back another sigh; then, she tells herself they can do this, it’s just a small group of goons, so the three of them will be fine, and the hyena might throw them off on top of the surprise attack, an extra bonus which might make the fight even easier.

“Alright”, Renee mumbles, keeping her voice low so the group inside won’t hear her, “let’s go in, I go first, you two right behind me. Harley, your pet here won’t go crazy and eat us, right?”

“No”, Harley replies with a roll of her eyes, Dinah smiling a bit at her exaggerated annoyance, “he knows to only eat bad guys.”

Renee looks a bit doubtful, but accepts this for now; she takes in a deep breath, then opens the warehouse door as quietly as possible, glancing around as she does so, but unable to spot anyone.

Slowly, she steps inside, then motions at the others to follow; Bruce is sniffing audibly, but doesn’t do much more than that, and Dinah once again wishes that Helena was there, a thought she rigorously pushes aside as she knows it won’t lead anywhere and won’t help much with keeping her focus.

The three of them move further into the warehouse, acutely aware of how quiet it is; Dinah glances around as they sneak past long discarded boxes and containers, a sudden feeling of unease coming over her, and clearly, Renee feels similar, as she looks back at her with a frown on her face.

“Harley”, the former cop then whispers, “are you sure this is the place? Doesn’t seem like anyone is here.”

“Oh, we are here”, a male voice answers, and bright lights flash up, momentarily blinding them, “but you won’t be for much longer.”

“Cover!” Renee shouts, and they scatter and dive behind various obstacles just as the shooting starts; a bullet tears into the floor unsettlingly close to Dinah, and she quickly moves on to a bigger cover, cursing under her breath as she realizes how much trouble they are in.

The shots seem to come from all over the warehouse, so they have spread out, and her cry won’t be of much use, she might take out one or two, three if she’s very lucky, but there will still a bunch left - if she even has the chance to use the cry, she realizes as another shot hits dangerously close to her, the moment she’ll get out of cover, they will target her, and while her cry is powerful, it doesn’t stop bullets aimed at her.

“Dammit, dammit, dammit”, Dinah mutters under her breath, mind racing as she tries to figure out how to get out of this; she glances towards the door, but all the items in the warehouse have been arranged so that there is a wide open space leading to it, and if she’d try to make a run for that, she’d be a sitting duck for the men with the guns.

A few feet away, she hears Renee curse and return fire, and from the pained yelp of one of the guys a moment later, she’s hit at least one; movement at the door distracts her, and for a moment, she thinks that Harley is making a run for it, then she actually looks and sees that the figure which is rushing into the warehouse is much too bulky and hairy for Harley.

“What the fuck”, she has time to whisper to herself, then the werewolf jumps and lands somewhere out of sight; she hears a man scream, but his scream is cut off abruptly, an angry growl echoing through the warehouse instead.

“It’s that monster again!” one of the guys shouts, then he screams in pure fear before he abruptly falls silent as well; and after that, it doesn’t take long until the shooting stops fully, and the only sound Dinah can hear is her own breathing and the harsher breaths Helena lets out a few feet away.

_ Please don’t let her be hurt and aggressive towards everyone _ , she thinks to herself as she slowly dares to leave her cover; Helena is standing over the body of a dead man, turns when Dinah comes into view though, and she’s relieved when the yellow eyes which focus on her aren’t filled with anger and aggression.

“Okay”, she says, daring to step closer when Helena doesn’t look as if she wants to pounce and bite her, “I should scold you for not listening and following us, but you did just save our asses. Good job.”

Helena huffs in response, staring at her for another few moments - before she flops down onto her back, and looks at Dinah expectantly, the singer getting what she wants after a moment and snorting laughter as she moves to rub her belly.

“Aw shit, this is adorable”, Harley comments as she comes out of her hiding place, phone already in hand and snapping pictures, “I’ll never let her live that one down. How did she know we’re in trouble?”   


“She probably didn’t and just followed Dinah”, Renee comments, holstering her gun and smirking a bit, so her next words don’t sound as harsh as they might have otherwise, “she has been following her around like an adorable puppy.”

“And thanks to that, she saved our asses”, Dinah points out, still rubbing the werewolf’s belly, smiling when Helena starts wagging her tail quite enthusiastically, “we were in trouble and you know that.”

“Very aware of it”, Renee grimaces, “and we should get moving, before someone shows up here to see what is going on after all that shooting. We don’t want anyone else to see Helena while she’s like this.”

Dinah nods, and straightens up again in response; Helena lets out a whine at that, quickly realizes though that for now, there won’t be any more belly rubs, looking somewhat glum when she comes to her feet again as well.

“Alright, let’s go”, Dinah says, and as they walk towards the exit and Harley puts the leash on Bruce again, she comments on how Dinah should get a collar and leash for Helena, too, Dinah shoving her in response and telling her to shut up, Harley just cackling as they make their way to the car together, all of them relieved and glad to have made it out of there alive, without anyone getting hurt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Puppy Helena to the rescue :D


	10. Chapter 10

Renee and Harley head home shortly after having made it back to the office building, while Dinah stays there with Helena; she feeds the werewolf some of the steak Renee has brought, making a mental note to buy more, and has some food as well, taking quite a bit longer to do so than Helena as she wolves the meat down again, letting out a satisfied yawn afterwards as she settles on the floor.

“You know”, Dinah comments as she eats, studying the werewolf, Helena looking back at her and once more giving her the impression that she’s understanding more of what she is saying at this point, “I am really glad that you came to help us out, but even when you’re like this, you’re stubborn and don’t listen.”

The huff Helena lets out in response makes Dinah smile, and she shakes her head before she reaches down to rub the werewolf’s head; this earns her another huff, and more tail wagging, a small sigh escaping the singer before she can stop herself. 

“You are adorable like this”, she then tells the werewolf, “but I wish you’d go back to normal. I know Sal said there is nothing we can do but wait but… I miss you.”

She sighs again, knowing she won’t get much of a reaction from Helena, even if the werewolf seems to understand her better now; then, she tells herself to pull herself together, and that this will be okay at some point soon, she’ll just have to be patient and it will all be okay again.

Perhaps, she then realizes, Helena doesn’t fully understand her, still too feral for this, but she does seem to pick up on her sudden sadness - as she lets out a low whine, and then moves so that her head rests in Dinah’s lap, the way she stares up at her with dismay making the singer’s heart clench up.

“It’s fine”, she thus says, making herself smile as she rubs her behind the ears again, “I know it’s not your fault, and you only are like this because you got hurt saving me. So I’ll just be patient, and wait for you to come back around to normal.”

Helena lets out another whine in response, and Dinah finds it hard to keep the smile up; she bends over the werewolf and gently kisses the top of her head, then straightens up again to finish her food while Helena settles at her feet, once again telling herself that Helena will snap out of this sooner or later and that everything will be okay.

* * *

A few days go by, and Helena’s state doesn’t change much; she gets calmer around Renee as well, but still isn’t all too fond of Bruce, growling at him whenever Harley brings him over, but that clearly doesn’t deter Harley from taking him along, the woman showing up every other day to see how Helena is doing.

She brings Cass along one time, and Dinah is very relieved when Helena doesn’t growl at the girl, but even lets Cassandra pet her and wags her tail; and another day, Harley comes alone, but proudly presents her with a collar large enough to fit Helena in her current form, Dinah going wide-eyed as she stares at it.

“So you can take her on walks!” Harley points out, mistaking her shocked silence for confusion, “look, I got a leash, too, if you get her to move on all fours, everyone will just think she’s a really big dog.”

“I will not put a collar with a leash on her”, Dinah tells her at once, shaking her head for emphasis, “put that way, Harley, before I decide to strangle you with it.”

“Okay, alright, fine”, Harley says with a roll of her eyes, packing the collar again, “sheehs, and here I thought it would be a lovely gift.”

“Keep it”, Dinah grumbles, and Helena seems to pick up on her mood, as she bares her teeth; quickly, Dinah makes sure to give her back a few calming rubs, and the werewolf settles down again, Harley looking relieved as the sharp and pointy teeth are not visible anymore.

“So, not much of a change then, huh”, Harley says, the way her voice and gaze suddenly soften telling Dinah that she is sincere now, “I’m sorry Canary, I was hoping she’d be better by now.”

“Me too”, Dinah mumbles as she keeps rubbing Helena’s back, just in case the werewolf picks up on her sudden glum mood, Helena does seem to have gotten quite good at sensing her moods even in this state, “but no one can tell me how long this will last. Not even Sal’s father, who’s been a werewolf all his life, or his father, who’s been one for even longer.”

“Damn”, Harley says with a small sigh, “but she is getting better, no? She seems less… angry.”

“Yeah”, Dinah agrees, smiling slightly as Harley’s observation means that she’s not been imagining Helena behaving less feral, “I hope that’s a good sign, and that she’ll snap out of this soon. Right, sweetheart?”

She moves her hand to scratch Helena behind one ear, the werewolf wagging her tail in response; and Harley lets out a squeal at the sight, even claps her hands, Dinah finding herself smiling again at the woman’s joy.

“This is adorable”, Harley declares, “I’ll tell her how cute she was once she’s back to normal. But for now, you guys feel like going out tonight? I haven’t been in a good fight in a while, I need to practice.”

“Sure”, Renee says at once, they haven’t been out since their run in with the gang at the warehouse, “if Dinah can convince Helena to stay here, and not follow us again, we got lucky last time, but she’s not supposed to get hurt and we might not be so lucky again.”

“You hear that, Helena”, Dinah says, smiling a bit when the werewolf looks at her at once the second she says her name, “we’re going out tonight, but you have to stay here, okay? Stay.”

Helena lets out a sort of sigh in response, but does flop down to the ground, and Dinah takes this to be a good sign; she smiles and bends over the werewolf to gently kiss the top of her head, then straightens up and looks at Harley, wanting to know if she as another lead for them, a bit surprised when Harley shakes her head.

“But I bet Renee has something”, the former psychiatrist then adds, grinning, neither Harley nor Dinah surprised when Renee nods at once; she motions at them to join her at the computer, and even though Helena twitches when Dinah moves away from her, she remains where she is, apparently taking Dinah’s words about staying to heart.

Renee shows them the file she’s been working on, thanks to the lax security of Gotham PD, she still has access to their database even though she has been gone from the force for months now; and she has used that access well, having collected information on a gang which has been busy demanding protection money from small businesses in their area, and having set two of said businesses on fire when they hadn’t complied.

“They’re hitting them always with the same rotation”, she adds, having worked that out from the various files in the database, and it makes Dinah wonder why the police themselves haven’t figured that out, but then, GCPD isn’t exactly known for being very good at their job, “if I worked this out right, they’ll go to this Chinese restaurant tonight and demand their weekly payment. I’d say we put an end to that.”

“Sounds like a plan”, Harley says with another grin, “I brought my mallet, it’s outside in my car.”

“Let me guess”, Dinah dryly comments while she goes to get one of the baseball bats Helena has acquired for her, back when they have started this, “you stole that car, like you stole mine once.”

“Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t”, Harley replies, batting her eyelashes innocently; Dinah just rolls her eyes while Renee shakes her head, the singer then telling Helena once more to wait there for them before the three of them head out, Dinah feeling bad at leaving Helena behind like this, but telling herself it’s better that way, that it will aid Helena’s recovery to not get into danger and that it will pay off for both of them in the long run.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do not take gift-giving lessons from Harley Quinn. XD


	11. Chapter 11

The three of them surprise the gang at the restaurant, making Renee feel a bit smug as it shows that her deductions have been correct; and while the guys in question are good at terrorizing the owners of small business and at setting fires, they are not so good at actually fighting, and it doesn’t take long until all five of them are groaning on the floor, with concussions and broken bones. 

“That was boring”, Harley complains, swinging her mallet and accidentally on purpose knocking one of the guys down again when he struggles to sit up, “way too easy. You got any other leads, Renee?”

“Sorry, no”, Renee says, and Harley makes a face, “not for tonight. If you’re so keen on beating people up, I’ll call you the next time we got a bigger job.”

“Yay!” Harley cheers, Dinah smirking a bit at her enthusiasm; the former psychiatrist makes Renee promise that she really will call her, then lets the two know she will head home now, Dinah and Renee only realizing that they have come here in Harley’s car once the woman in question and said car are actually gone.

“Good thing that fight wasn’t hard”, Renee comments with a roll of her eyes while Dinah makes a face, “cause now we gotta walk home. At least it’s not far.”

“Typical”, Dinah says, making Renee smirk slightly as she nods, “she asks us if we got a lead, tells us we can use her car and then just leaves us stranded here. She’s lucky I sort of like her by now or I would never take her along again.”

Renee nods again as they start walking, and thanks to the fact that it’s indeed not very far, it doesn’t take them long to reach the office building; and there, they part ways, Renee by now not worried anymore about leaving Dinah alone with Helena, after she’s had many chances to see how devoted Helena is to Dinah even in her current state.

“I’ll see you tomorrow”, the former cop tells her, making her smile and nod; Renee then heads to her car while Dinah enters the building, finding Helena asleep on the floor near the door, the werewolf coming to her feet at once though the second Dinah steps into the building.

“Hey”, Dinah says as Helena pads over to her, rubbing her head and earning a satisfied huff, “that mission was done faster than expected. Come on, let’s feed you before we go to sleep.”

She makes her way to the fridge and grabs a steak for Helena, smiling a bit at how she wolves it down; she devours the steak in record time, then lets out a hearty yawn, Dinah smiling again at the sight, apparently, Helena won’t have any trouble fall asleep again right away.

“Alright”, she thus says, holding back a yawn of her own, “that mission didn’t take long, but I’m still tired. Let’s get some sleep?”

Helena responds by making her way to the training room door, Dinah following her at once; she takes a moment to change into her sleepwear, then gets comfortable on the cot she’s been using for the past few days, once again smiling when Helena settles down on the ground next to it.

“Good night”, Dinah says once she has gotten as comfortable as it’s possible on the cot, her back is already unhappy about the nights she has spent on it, but she’s not willing to leave Helena alone here as long as she is like this, “sleep well.”

Helena lets out a vaguely agreeing huff in response, and Dinah reaches down so she can rest her hand on the werewolf’s back; and until she drifts off into sleep, she runs her fingers through the soft fur, the sensation feeling oddly calming, helping her to fall asleep quickly.

* * *

When Dinah wakes in the middle of the night, she at first isn’t sure  _ why _ she has woken up.

She’s always been sort of a light sleeper, so the smallest noises often are enough to wake her; for a moment, she thinks that perhaps a car has had a misfire outside or maybe some people have made noise, but she can’t hear an engine, and she can’t hear people talk outside, so it can’t have been that.

Then, Helena lets out a low whine from her spot next to the bed, and Dinah is wide awake in a flash, sitting up in the dark and groping for her phone, the only source of light she can get to without actually getting up.

“Helena?” she says as she switches on her phone’s flashlight, fresh worry making her stomach clench up when the bright beam falls onto the werewolf; Helena is curled up on the ground and shivering, Dinah never has seen her tremble like this, and she lets out another whine when the light shines on her, Dinah quickly switching it off again, she’s not sure what is happening, but she doesn’t want to make it worse.

“Helena”, she says again, slowly moving so that she ends up on the ground next to her, “I don’t know what’s happening, but it’s going to be okay, alright? You’ll be okay, I…”

She reaches out and places one hand on Helena’s back, and nearly jerks it back a moment later, because Helena feels  _ hot _ , as if she’s having a fever, and the muscle Dinah can feel beneath her hand is thrumming oddly, Dinah letting out a strangled noise when she feels said muscle  _ shift _ beneath her hand, in a way she’s fairly certain muscle isn’t supposed to move.

“Helena?” she has time to say again, then Helena suddenly comes to her feet, so abruptly she nearly throws Dinah over; Dinah’s eyes have gotten used to the dark at this point, and so she can watch how Helena moves a few feet away, then stops and whines again, a shiver so violent running through her that it looks as if her whole body is cramping up.

“Shit”, Dinah lets out, coming to her feet as well, but having no idea what to do, if she should try to touch Helena again or call Renee or both, or do something completely different; and before she can make up her mind, Helena lets out an oddly strangled grunt - before she collapses to the ground, and goes dreadfully still, Dinah’s eyes going wide as she now runs to her side.

Just when she reaches her, and kneels down next to her, Helena twitches, and grunts… and then the fur starts to ripple and move, and Dinah goes still, she has seen this before, she knows what it usually means, but she’s not sure she’s ready to get her hopes up.

She fights the urge to touch Helena, not sure if it would be a good idea at this point, it might interrupt things and stop what is happening; and even though it is hard, Dinah doesn’t move, just sits and watches the change, her heart beating up to her throat by the time it is done and Helena is lying there, naked and human, breathing heavily as sweat glistens on her skin.

For a few moments, there’s silence, the only sound being Helena’s harsh breathing; then, she opens her eyes, and they are clear and alert and aware, and Dinah feels like crying when the other woman’s gaze meets her own.

“Dinah”, Helena says, slowly sitting up before she pauses and looks down at herself in surprise, “why are we here? And why am I naked?”

“Long story”, Dinah manages in response, the lump in her throat making it hard to say more; Helena still looks confused, and this only grows when Dinah moves to hug her tight, but as she returns the embrace, she figures she’ll find out soon enough, for now, she can tell that Dinah is upset and she wants to make this better, and so she holds her and rubs her back, perfectly unaware of how long Dinah has been waiting for this moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wouldn't mind a naked Helena in my bedroom. Just saying XD


	12. Chapter 12

“How much do you remember?” Dinah asks a short while later, after having found some clothes for Helena and having gotten her a glass of water when the assassin has told her she’s thirsty; Helena shrugs, then takes a sip of her water, toying with the glass afterwards as she responds.

“Not much”, she admits, and Dinah is somewhat glad about it, she doesn’t want to imagine what it would have been like for Helena, had she been fully aware, but not in control of herself and her actions, “I remember that van hitting me and then just… bits and pieces. I remember being angry at first, but then that got better when you were there and… oh, I remember you rubbing my belly. That was nice.”

“Of course you remember  _ that” _ , Dinah says, making Helena smirk a bit, “but yeah, you were quite into me doing that. One time, you even sort of demanded it, after you helped us out.”

Helena just smirks at this, clearly not perturbed, even though her smile fades when Dinah suddenly seems to find it hard to look her in the eye; instead, she seems to find a loose thread on her shirt very interesting all at once, toying with it, and clearing her throat before she finally does speak up.

“I’m sorry”, she says, Helena blinking, honestly confused about this and not having an idea what Dinah is talking about until the singer elaborates, “you only ended up like this because you saved me. You were… stuck like this, for days, because of me.”

“And now I recovered”, Helena points out, Dinah making a face as she is not quite as willing to let herself off the hook so easily, even though Renee has told her Helena won’t blame her and this turns out to be right now, “if I hadn’t pushed you out of the way, you’d be dead. I’m not.”

“Still”, Dinah sighs, finally looking at Helena again, the taller woman figuring this is a good sign, “I feel bad, and I’m sorry.”

“Well, if I had to do it all over again, I would”, Helena solemnly tells her, Dinah swallowing heavily at the ease with which Helena tells her this, “because yeah, I went a bit wild for a few days, but you’re alive and well, and now, so am I. If I hadn’t done it, you’d be dead, and I’d rather go feral for a week or two than be like this and without you.”

In response, Dinah moves to hug her, Helena returning the embrace at once, and Dinah both feels and hears her breathe in deeply as she holds her close; she smiles to herself, knowing what Helena is doing, not that she can blame her, after the days she’s been her feral self and hasn’t been fully aware of Dinah being around her.

“Thank you”, Dinah mumbles after just enjoying being so close to Helena for a minute or two, smiling a bit when she feels the other woman rub her back, “for forgiving me so quickly. And I’m happy to have you back.”

“There was nothing to forgive”, Helena tells her again, prompting Dinah to pull back just enough so she can look at her, “like I said, I’d do it again any time, I’d do that and more for you. I love you.”

It’s not the first time Helena says these words, but they have more meaning this time, after what has happened; and once again, Dinah has to swallow the sudden lump in her throat before she can respond, voice hoarse despite her best intentions when she does so.

“I love you too”, she tells the assassin, hugging her tighter for emphasis, “so much.”

She pulls back a bit again, so she can kiss Helena; the kiss starts out fairly innocent, but soon grows more heated, Dinah unable to hold back a low moan when Helena moves her as they kiss, so that she ends up in her lap, the assassin’s hand sliding beneath her shirt so she can run her fingers up her bare back and make her moan again.

“Damn”, Dinah manages when she has to pull back for some air, a very familiar glint in Helena’s eyes when her gaze meets the assassin’s, “I’ve missed this.”

“I can tell”, Helena lets her know, not really surprising Dinah, the singer well aware of the advantage Helena’s nose gives her, and by now, the werewolf is very attuned to her and her moods and how those change her scent, “and I’ve missed it, too. I know it’s in the middle of the night, but…?”

Dinah responds by coming to her feet, then taking Helena’s hand and pulling her up as well; she leads the thankfully short way to the cot, pulling Helena down with her as she lowers herself down onto it, so that the assassin ends up on top of her, smirking when she hears Helena let out a low growl in response, the good sort of growl, the one which signals that she’s aroused.

“I’ve missed this, too”, she still has time to say, then Helena is kissing her again, and pushing her shirt up this time, and she focuses on how good this makes her feel, forgetting about everything else but Helena’s kiss and touch for quite a while.

* * *

When Dinah wakes in the next morning, she feels Helena’s warmth right beneath her, and it makes her smile before she even opens her eyes; with the cot technically not being wide enough for two, they have fallen asleep snuggled close to each other after thoroughly having celebrated Helena’s return, the assassin still fast asleep now, snoring lightly as she lies flat on her back, Dinah halfway on top of her.

A quick glance at her phone tells Dinah that they still have some time before Renee will arrive, and she decides to wake Helena up so the former cop won’t walk in on them all snuggled up like this, knowing the teasing would be endless; she doesn’t want to just shake Helena awake though, and so, she starts kissing along her jawline instead, and it doesn’t take many kisses until Helena’s snoring stops and she opens her eyes.

“Good morning”, Dinah mumbles, then moves up to capture Helena’s lips with her own before the taller woman actually has the chance to respond; she hears and feels Helena sigh into her mouth contently, and has to remind herself about the fact that Renee will arrive soon, forcing herself to pull back despite how good the kiss is making her feel. 

“Morning”, Helena now can say, Dinah giving her another smile as she sits up, smile widening at how Helena pouts; she reminds her that Renee will arrive somewhat soon and that they should be showered and dressed by then, Helena sighing in response as she sits up as well, knowing that Dinah is right. 

“You know”, she still says as she gets up from the cot and stretches, very aware of Dinah’s eyes on her, “it might be faster if we showered together.”

Dinah sincerely doubts that, knowing they’re more likely to get distracted by each other again, but then, Helena  _ is  _ naked in front of her, and smiling that slightly wolfish smile at her, and so, all she can do is nod, and they are quick to make their way to the adjoining bathroom.

The shower does take much longer than it would have, had they showered one after the other, but neither Dinah, nor Helena mind much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good thing Helena has heightened stamina, I suppose. XD


	13. Chapter 13

When Renee arrives at the office building, Helena and Dinah are both showered and fully dressed, sitting in their little kitchen corner and drinking coffee; and clearly, Renee isn’t fully awake yet, casually greeting both women as she makes her way to the coffee machine, only pausing a minute later before she turns to stare at the assassin.

“Crossbow”, she then says, stunned enough that she reverts back to the nickname she’s used before Helena has revealed her furrier side, “look at you, all normal and human.”

“Relatively normal”, Helena smirks, making Dinah smile as well, “but yeah, turned back last night. About time, too.”

“I agree”, Renee nods at once, moving to where the two are sitting so she can clap Helena on the shoulder, “welcome back then.”

Anyone else might have found her reaction weird and subdued, but Helena knows her by now, and knows what to look for, and she can tell Renee is happy to have her back; she nods and smiles, the former cop smiling back at her for a moment before she remembers she’s been making coffee and goes to finish that task.

“So”, she says as she’s focused on the machine, “you remember much of your wolf time, or nothing at all?”

“Just bits and pieces”, Helena tells her, “but I do associate you with yummy steak now, so I imagine you fed me.”

“I did”, Renee confirms while Dinah lets out a small laugh, “you were all cuddly puppy with Dinah, but kept growling at me, so I figured I’d bribe you with some steak. It worked, too, even though you never got as cuddly with me as you were with Dinah.”

“Dinah is special”, Helena solemnly replies, making Dinah’s smile soften as she’s clearly touched by that, “but, um… well… sorry. For being growly at you. I wasn’t… quite myself.”

“I know”, Renee reassures her at once, while her coffee gets done and she takes a sip right away, Helena as always wrinkling her nose at how she drinks it, black and with no sugar, “no hard feelings, we’re good. I’m just glad you’re back to normal.”

“Me too”, Helena tells her at once, earning another smile from the other woman, “and I’m glad I didn’t hurt any of you guys. I remember biting some bad guys, but I guess that’s okay.”

Both Renee and Dinah nod at that, usually, Renee prefers it if they don’t kill the culprits, but figures an exception can be made this one time; Helena looks a bit relieved at this, but she already has known that she has bitten neither Renee, nor Dinah, they would have gone wolf too if she had, and she would have been able to tell from their scent, but both Dinah and Renee smell the same, so Helena knows they are okay. 

“Shit!” Dinah distracts her from her thoughts, the sudden exclamation making both Helena and Renee jump, “Sal! Your buddy! We need to tell him you’re okay!”

Helena can only blink, and Dinah realizes that her girlfriend has no idea about Sal being aware of what has happened; she quickly explains, then remembers she still has Helena’s phone and pulls it from her pocket, handing it to the assassin, giving her an apologetic look as she does so.

“We probably should have told him sooner”, she says, Renee raising her brows as she nods her agreement; she opens her mouth as if to ask why they haven’t, then realizes that Helena must have gone back to normal at some point during the night and quickly guesses what they have been busy with, closing her mouth again without asking, “let’s hope he won’t be mad.”

“Only one way to find out”, Helena tells her with a small shrug, then pulls up her contact list and calls him; and clearly, he’s been expecting Dinah to call and not her, as he takes the call with a both friendly and concerned “Dinah?”, Helena smiling a bit at his tone.

“Nope”, she then says, her smile widening at his delighted gasp, “me this time, I’m all back to normal. Well. As normal as I can be, I guess.”

“ _ Cucciolo” _ , Sal gushes in response, loud enough that Dinah and Renee can hear him, both of them smirking at the nickname, and unperturbed by the glare Helena sends their way for their mirth, “so good to hear you are better. You are fully fine again?”

“I guess so”, Helena tells him, realizing that she has no idea if there might be any long-term effects after what has happened, but she does feel fine and pretty much as always, “I went back to human during the night, don’t remember much from those few days, only a few vague things.”

“Yeah, that was to be expected”, Sal lets her know, and that calms her down a bit, “there are not many cases documented about what happened to you, but in the few which there are, they all barely remembered anything after returning to normal. You don’t feel more angry than usual, do you?”

“Well, no”, Helena says, frowning a bit now and prompting Dinah to look at her in worry as by now, Sal has lowered his volume and she can hear him talk, but can’t make out any words, “but we’re just sitting around drinking coffee, so no need to feel angry. Not sure what will happen when we go out again, should I be worried?”

“Maybe not worried”, Sal amends, and Helena relaxes a bit again, to Dinah’s clear relief, “but remember what we taught you about keeping your temper in check, and try not to get hurt for a while. I can’t say for sure, but getting injured might bring the wolf out again, and not in the good way.”

“Okay, I’ll try to keep that in mind”, Helena lets him know, and he doesn’t try to get more of a promise from her, he knows how reckless she can be, and the enhanced healing her wolf gives her only has made this increase, “thanks for the heads up, I appreciate it.”

“Tell your lovely girl and Renee, too”, Sal instructs, and Helena feels caught, as part of her has been tempted to do the exact opposite, as she knows that Dinah and Renee will try their hardest to make sure she actually does not get hurt, even if it might endanger them, “poor Dinah, she was so worried about you, she deserves to know.”

Now Helena not only feels caught, but bad, too, realizing that Sal is right; and so, she tells him she’ll let them know, then thanks him for his help and concern and reassures him she will keep him posted about her state, even though she is fairly certain that the feral phase is over and won’t come back anytime soon. 

“Let us what know”, Dinah asks the second Helena has ended the call, looking a bit worried and curious; Helena makes a face again in response, then sighs, knowing she can’t keep it from them, and she doesn’t want to keep it from them, she trusts them both and she loves Dinah, and she figures they deserve to know.

“I should not get hurt for a while”, she thus says, “and I should not get angry, ridiculous as that sounds. That might bring the wolf back, in the bad, uncontrolled way.”

“Well, we can help with the not getting hurt part”, Renee comments, making Dinah nod at once, “but the anger part? Difficult.”

“I know, right”, Helena says with another grimace, making Renee laugh a bit; Dinah smiles as well, then reaches over to grasp her hand, the taller woman smiling at her as she feels her fingers curl around her own.

“I won’t tell you to stay here while we go out”, Dinah tells her, to her relief, “because we all know that won’t work. But at least try to be careful when we do get into a fight? Please?”

“Okay”, Helena can’t do anything but agree, with the way Dinah is looking at her, concern and love in her eyes; Dinah smiles and squeezes her hand, then rewards her with a kiss, Helena finding herself smiling again afterwards, determined to keep her promise, if only so she won’t disappoint the woman she loves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah Helena, you better be careful x)


	14. Chapter 14

“Okay”, Renee says in the evening of the same day, dropping a file onto the desk in front of the two others, “Crossbow’s not supposed to get angry or hurt, so I chose a smaller thing for tonight. Small gang of drug dealers, can’t hurt to take them down before they grow bigger.”

“Agreed”, Helena says at once, Dinah nodding as well, “and yeah, might be a good start. Maybe not a good idea to go up against people who’ll shoot me the first night after I recovered.”

“Very not a good idea”, Dinah says at once, now shaking her head for emphasis, “so yeah, small time dealers it is. You know where we can find them, Renee?”

“Yeah”, Renee says at once, not really surprising either of them as they both have figured she wouldn’t have brought it up if she’d had no idea, “at the park, the one near the Gotham mall? They usually hang around there.”

“A park, nice”, Helena comments, making Dinah smirk with her next words, “a nice change of scenery, compared to the usual places at warehouses and harbours.”

“Yeah”, Renee agrees with a smirk of her own, “and Dinah can throw a few sticks for you to fetch in case you get bored!”

“I’m not even back for a day and here are the dog jokes again”, Helena says, shaking her head while Dinah lets out an “awww”, reaching over to rub her arm soothingly, “and then you wonder why I growled at you when I went wolf.”

“I didn’t really wonder”, Renee corrects her, quickly going through the file until she finds what she is looking for, a rough description of the location where the gang usually can be found, “I was a bit insulted actually, that you’d be all cuddly with Dinah so fast, but barely seemed to remember me. Luckily, I’m a gracious person and forgave you.”

“Luckily”, Helena deadpans, making Dinah laugh again while Renee just gives her another smirk; then, the former cop clears her throat and points to the file, and the three of them focus, the banter for the moment forgotten as Renee starts explaining.

“Far as we know, they like to hang around near the playground”, she says, and Dinah frowns, her frown deepening at what the former cop says next, “there’s been several reports about angry mothers, calling GCPD after their kids have found used syringes in the sandbox. Apart from that, there’s also been findings of pills and marijuana, but they never have been caught directly, possibly also because the police doesn’t care enough to be on the lookout.”

“That’s why we are doing this though”, Dinah points out, making them both nod, “it might be a small time thing, but it’s still worth stopping it, especially when they do this near places children are using during the day. I say we go there and kick ass.”

“Definitely”, Helena says, Renee nodding as well, “you know when they usually do their business there?”

“After midnight”, Renee tells them, checking her watch, “so we got time, and we can be there early and check out the area. Also, with your amazing sniffer back to work, we’ll know when they are approaching anyway.”

Both Helena and Dinah agree to that, and the three of them start preparing for their mission; and not long after that, they head out to the park, Helena feeling good and confident as she looks forward to this, eager to take down yet another gang and make Gotham a better place, one criminal at a time.

* * *

They do arrive at the park a while before midnight, and use that time to check for possible cover and places to hide; the park has many trees and shadowy spots to hide, and they choose places where they can keep a good view at the playground area, but won’t be seen easily, Dinah making sure to pick her spot so that she can see Helena, as well.

She’s fairly confident that Helena truly is back to normal and won’t snap into feral mode again without warning, but she still feels better keeping an eye on her; and she figures that Helena is aware of Dinah watching her, but the assassin is in full mission mode now, and keeps her gaze focused on where the gang is supposed to appear. 

Dinah doesn’t mind though, her own gaze straying to the playground every now and then before it returns to Helena; she can tell from the taller woman’s posture that Helena is tense and focused, but it’s a good sort of tense, not the “I’m about to go wild wolf” sort of tense, and Dinah feels relieved by this, hoping that everything will work out fine and that no nasty surprises will await them once the gang does arrive.

Helena gesturing a few feet away distracts her from her ponderings, and she looks at the assassin questioningly; Helena nods at the playground in response, then points to her right, and Dinah figures this means the gang is coming, quickly relaying the information to Renee the same way, the former cop nodding to show she has understood.

A few minutes later, voices can be heard, and Dinah is once more impressed at how good Helena’s nose is, she must have smelled them from quite the distance and probably has heard them long before Dinah and Renee have, too; then, they come within view, and Dinah is not surprised that Helena has been able to pick up their scent, there’s four of them and they all look as if they haven’t showered in weeks. 

Renee gains her attention by raising her fist, the brass knuckles already glinting on her fingers; Dinah nods, then looks at Helena, earning a nod from her as well, and the three of them get moving, by now having perfected this soundless communication, moving all at the same time, the gang turning to look at them in surprise when they emerge from the shadows. 

“What the fuck”, one of them says, then Helena reaches him and punches him, and he staggers, yelping in both surprise and pain; the others let out startled shouts and try to get their fists up, but Dinah can easily tell they are not trained, and figures they won’t have a hard time taking them down, Helena easily could have done so on her own, had it been necessary. 

Thankfully, she is not on her own though, and Dinah is quick to help, kicking one of the guys in the stomach; he goes down with an audible “ooff”, and she holds back a smirk, satisfied at how quick she has been to take him out. 

She quickly lands another kick, before the guy has a chance to get back up; behind her, she hears another one yelp as Helena lands another punch, then the fourth one grunts at Renee hitting him, the guys going down faster than expected at their attack. 

From the corner of her eye, she sees the first guy Helena has hit come to his feet again, he staggers a bit, but he grits his teeth with both anger and determination as he focuses on Helena; she hears the metallic  _ click _ as the blade of his switchblade pops out, and her eyes go wide, her heart all at once hammering up to her throat.

_ She’s not supposed to get hurt _ , Dinah still has time to think, then the guy swings his blade, with neither finesse, nor much skill, but it does connect, and blood splashes, and all Dinah can do is stare, heart racing as she waits to see what will happen. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops...


	15. Chapter 15

The cut isn’t bad, Dinah can tell, Helena has managed to bring her arm up to shield her face; it heals quickly, but she can see the anger in Helena’s eyes, that feral rage, the assassin letting out a growl as she retaliates, one hard hit enough to send the guy down and take him out as well, all four men unconscious on the ground now.

The danger is over, and the cut is gone, but Helena is still growling, fists clenched tightly, Renee looking apprehensive while Dinah dares to take a slow step closer, finding herself wondering how hard Helena is struggling right now to not go feral again. 

“Helena”, she says, she has to do  _ something _ and can’t just stand there and watch; Helena’s gaze focuses on her, and it takes almost all of her willpower to not flinch or step back when she sees the bright yellow which has taken over the other woman’s eyes.

Helena growls again, exposing teeth which are decidedly sharper and pointier than they should be; Renee takes a step back, a reflex, perhaps, and immediately, the taller woman’s gaze focuses on her, her growl increasing in volume.

“Helena!” Dinah says again, a bit sharper this time, and the assassin’s gaze thankfully moves to her again, Dinah figures that, if anyone can calm her down now and stop her from going feral again, it’s her, her mind racing as she tries to find the right words, “it’s okay. You’re okay. I know your wolf is going crazy right now, but you can’t let it take over, okay?”

Renee is standing stockstill as Dinah talks, and she figures that is good, she wants Helena to keep focusing on her even if it might be dangerous; Helena lets out another growl, but it’s quieter than the one which has been aimed at Renee, and Dinah takes this to be a good sign, daring to take another step closer.

“You got this”, she says, glad when Helena stops growling in response, but the assassin is still breathing heavier than normal, and her eyes are still yellow and her teeth are pointier than they should be, “you won’t give in to that, I know you won’t. You won’t go feral again, and you know why? Because you’re strong, and amazing, and you’re stronger than the wolf.”

She takes another step closer, close enough to touch Helena now, and she dares to do so, reaching out and taking gentle hold of the other woman’s hand; Helena’s fingers curl around hers, and Dinah smiles, knowing this is another good sign. 

“Yeah, see”, she thus says, with another, hopefully encouraging smile, “there you go, that’s it.”

She reaches up with her free hand and starts scratching Helena behind the ear, and even though she knows the assassin will be embarrassed that Renee sees this, it works, her breathing getting calmer, as well; and a short while later, the yellow fades from Helena’s eyes, and she relaxes noticeably, Dinah giving her another smile as she pulls her hand back.

“See”, she says again, earning a wry smile from the taller woman, “it’s all good. Yeah?”

“Yeah”, Helena confirms after a moment, Renee letting out a heavy breath behind them, and relaxing noticeably as well, “thank you.”

“Anytime”, Dinah reassures her, and while it might have been an empty phrase from anyone else, on any other day, but both Helena and Dinah are aware of the weight these words carry, Helena managing a small smile as she takes hold of Dinah’s hand and gives it a gentle squeeze.

“All good then?” Renee throws in, just to be on the safe side, and both Helena and Dinah nod; the former cop gives them a brief smile, then pulls out her phone to call the police about the perps they have taken down, Helena and Dinah already making their way to the car while she does so, Dinah now eager to get Helena home and make sure she gets some proper rest after how wrong this mission almost has gone.

* * *

“So”, Dinah starts once they are back at their apartment, getting each of them a beer from the fridge while Helena is leaning against the kitchen counter, watching her, “how close were you actually to going wolf again?”

“Quite”, Helena admits, nodding in appreciation when Dinah hands her the drink and taking a few long sips from it before she continues, “if you hadn’t been around and so quick to calm me down, that might have gotten ugly. Again. I’m sorry.” 

“Don’t be”, Dinah tells her at once, stepping closer so she can wrap one arm around her, glad when Helena returns the gesture at once, “I’m glad I could help, and from what Sal said, it’s not really your fault. We’ll just have to make sure you don’t get squished by cars anymore in the future so this won’t happen again.”

She chooses a deliberate light tone, and it works as she has intended, Helena smiling a bit; Dinah smiles back at her, then leans in for a brief, but gentle kiss, gaze soft when she pulls back and reaches up so she can trail her fingers along the other woman’s jaw, Helena shuddering noticeably at her tender touch.

“Seriously though”, the singer says, turning a bit so that she’s facing the assassin, Helena’s arms immediately going around her and pulling her close, “I’ll pull you back anytime, alright? I got your back.”

“I know”, Helena tells her, earning another smile from her, “and I can’t tell you how much I appreciate that. If it hadn’t been for you I would have gone feral again so… thank you.”

“Anytime”, Dinah lets her know again, stealing another quick kiss, “your wolf self was very cuddly and fluffy, but I do prefer you looking like this, so it’s partly in my own interest that you don’t go feral again. Because then, I can do this.”

She pulls her down for another kiss, one which quickly grows heated, Helena’s hands sliding beneath her shirt after a while; Dinah pulls back from the kiss long enough to ask “bedroom?”, only to squeal when Helena responds by picking her up on her arms, Dinah wrapping both arms around her neck to steady herself while the taller woman smirks at her, this is not the first time she displays her strength like this, but Dinah’s reaction makes her happy every time.

“Guess that’s a yes to the bedroom”, Dinah comments as Helena carries her to exactly that room; she smiles as the taller woman lowers her onto the bed, then pulls her down on top of herself and kisses her again, sighing into Helena’s mouth at feeling her comfortable weight settle on her body, glad that they can do this in a proper bed now instead of on the cot at the office building.

Helena pulls back from the kiss so she can move to Dinah’s throat, the singer letting out a low moan when she feels her girlfriend’s lips and tongue on the sensitive skin there; she feels Helena smirk against her throat, then a low growl follows, and Dinah can immediately tell it’s one of the good ones.

She’s really glad, she thinks to herself as she pulls Helena back up for another kiss, to have her back, and she can’t wait to show her how happy exactly she is about this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaand it's done :D Thank you all for reading, leaving kudos and commenting :) I hope you enjoyed this one and that I'll see you at the next one ;)


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